Vikram's "Iru Mugan," which has been released in two languages — Tamil and Telugu — in the United States, is off to a slow start at the box office. It is interesting to note that the Tollywood version, titled "Inokkadu," has made a better collection than the Kollywood movie.

ATMUS Entertainment, a U.S.-based distributor of South Indian movies, tweeted,"#EKSI #Irumugan $948 from 17 compared to #Inkokkadu $2102 from 16 screens - advance booking for premiere!!" While "Iru Mugan" is distributed by Praneeth Media, its Telugu version is distributed by Cine Galaxy.

Ramesh Bala, trade tracker, tweeted, "#IruMugan/#Inkokkadu collects $35,000 from #USA Premieres.. A decent start.. [sic]."

The response for the advance booking of "Iru Mugan" was not up to the mark, while the sale of tickets for the Telugu version were better than its original. Industry experts hope the bilingual film will do decent business during the weekend.

Trade experts were hoping that "Iru Mugan" would set a new record. But it has failed to live up to the expectations. Vikram's hit film "I" had minted "$168,795" from 120 screens.

"Iru Mugan" is an spy thriller, written and directed by Anand Shankar. Shibu Thamnees has produced the movie, which stars Nayanthara and Nithya Menen as the lead actresses.

The film has been released worldwide in over 1,000 screens. But it is not seeing the light of the day in Karnataka as theatre owners have refused to screen the film while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have locked horns over the Cauvery water-sharing issue.

However, early response coming from trade experts says that "Iru Mugan" has got a decent opening in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. However, the film has opened to mixed reviews.